Thom
Born June 13, 1990. One of the Four, and a Chaos Representative. He harnesses the Chaos inside him and wields a gravitational Talent. He and his friends are thrown into the world of Mundis unwillingly. Thom, beginning to feel apathetic about the repetitive nature his life, wished for more excitement for him and his friends. Above all, he wants to prove to them he can be a strong individual, but he never has the opportunity to do so. Throughout his time in Mundis, he comes to appreciate the safety that his home brings, and wants nothing more than to be the one to take his friends back and keep them safe. This goes in direct conflict with his merely wetted appetite for excitement. He has an uncertain relationship with Amber, in that he wants to care for her most of all, but she, by nature, is a being that he is meant to erase. Origins Thom and his three friends are Recalls. In Thom's "past life," he was a Chaos Representative. It is unknown whether or not his old self knew any others of the Four, but it is possible, given how small Mundis is. His old self had a son: he would become Varios Flowe. Thom's old self integrated with Mnemosyne soon after the child was born, however, and thus Varios has no recollection of his father. Oneiric Stasis Thom and the Four were collected at birth by Morqa Flowe and put into Oneiric Stasis. They grew up inside a sort of dream world (the non-fictional world you and I live in). Parts of this Stasis World were taken from the real world, and certain pieces of Mundis are thus recognizable to the four (the most notable of which being The River). Morqa connected the Four when putting them in Stasis, ensuring that each individual recognized the other three during their coma. Entrance to Mundis On July 4th, 2005, Varios Flowe freed Thom and his friends from the Stasis and placed them in Riverbank, an area that was recreated in the Four's Stasis World. Varios had been observing the Four's conditions and occasionally connecting with them (which essentially enters the individual into the collective Stasis World of the Four) to monitor their actions, and recreated a scenario that would make it seem like the Four had passed out at the Stasis World's Riverbank and awoken the next morning (though, in reality, they had awoken in Mundis' Riverbank). Talent & Abilities Thom possesses the Talent of Gravity. He uses longer, one-handed swords as his main method of self-defense (which traces back to his PVC pipe swordplay with Kim). He can harness Chaos energy to his advantage, as well. He fully embraces his Talent with the help of Morqa, and learns to propel himself into the air and fling back objects around himself. Such feats are still a drain on him, though. Thom's relationship with Mnemosyne gives him a certain advantage when dealing with people. Those that he developed relationships with in the Stasis World remember him thanks to his memory rubbing off on the real versions of them. Story Thom's story revolves around hiding his child-like vulnerabilities. He fears change, yet desperately wants excitement and adventure. When it comes, he surpresses his fear until he is ripped from his home. Here, he feels like a lost child without his mother, but presses on with his desire to protect his friends (mostly Amber). His motives are true, but the vulnerabilities underneath constantly nag him. As they travel, Thom realizes his feelings for Amber go deeper than he had thought, though he isn't sure if they are romantic feelings or not. He is greatly distressed by his Chaotic nature and her Oneiric one; someone he loves is someone he might destroy. Once Chaos takes him, he uses The Heartbreak to send Amber to Mnemosyne, as his instinct dictated. In the process, he wounded Kim. Thom ran from the group with a chunk of his left hand missing, lost to a small explosion that ultimately saved Kim's life. After the Separation Thom wandered aimlessly towards the south and ran into Varios on the road. Varios had not anticipated this, but took advantage of the moment and employed Thom to help him locate and destroy Light Wells. In one Well, Thom breaks down and sees a vision of a figure in emerald and silver armor speaking to him about Imperfection. Thom ignores it and continues on. Throughout his journey with Vairos, the Light from the Wells ate at Thom, causing him continued physical pain but restoring his sense of self. Chaos was still a large part of his mind, but he remembered what he had done to Amber and to his friends. He made it his mission to go to Mnemosyne and find her. As soon as he leaves Varios, the Chaos in his mind acts again, and he decides to leave Amber where she is. He instead heads to Urma, hoping to find some friends. That night, he runs into Carmen and Kelcy in the Ottumwa District. With Kelcy around, Thom's Chaos lies dormant, and Carmen then asks him if he remembers her. Thom acts cold towards her, and tells her he does not. He asks her to leave him be, and to let Kelcy (who is now in an Order-induced daze) go. She refuses, and begs him to remember, telling him they were best friends, and cared for each other. He simply tells her, "You must be thinking of someone else." Carmen then tells Thom that he needs to find Kim and Sara, because they still care for him, and he knows it. With his regained sense, Thom agrees, and once again makes saving Amber his priority. The next morning, he leaves Urma. Reunion with Kim and Sara Thom meets Kim and Sara outside Urma's city gate, and is suddenly "attacked" by them; the two pin him down and use a tool to extract the Chaos from him. It fails, the Chaos within him engulfs all three and drags them down to Thom's version of Mnemosyne. Thom remains unconscious throughout his stay there, and awakes in front of Urma once more to find himself able to think much more clearly. Kim and Sara then tell him what they've learned from Morqa - that Amber is likely in Oneiris. Thom takes it upon himself to find a way there, Chaos aside. He foolishly refuses Kim and Sara's help, saying, "You two should know more than anybody. I was meant to take care of her." Thom consults Morqa on the matter and learns of a group of people called Lunekin, the inhabitants of The Elms, a giant forest. They are deeply connected with The Great Willow, which produces a sap that forms Order. The forest is also home to Mundis' largest Light Well, which the two suspect may be used as a method of entering Oneiris. Preparations Thom travels to The Elms to meet with the Lunekin to see if they might have any insight in traveling to Oneiris. At the entrance to the forest, he meets up with Varios. He hurriedly shrugs him off, and ignores Varios' warnings of danger, telling him he owes it to Amber and to everyone else to finally do something good for them. Thom arrives in The Elms, and after initial hostility, the Lunekin open up to Thom when he saves their chieftan by restraining an attacking Mnemon. They inform him that members of their society have indeed been lost to Oneiris in some of the Wells in the forest. The Lunekin then teach Thom how to properly harvest the Great Willow's sap and create natural Order, and he sets off. Finding Amber When he finally enters Oneiris, all he sees is a white beach with a faint ocean. On the shore, he sees a girl - Amber - sitting. He runs to her, and finds that she's unconscious. Thom speaks to her, telling her how sorry he is for everything, and how he wishes they were still home, sitting at the river. He wishes they could just sit and wish upon the stars like they used to. He apologizes for wanting more excitement, when all he wanted was for everyone to be safe. As Thom begins to cry, the world around him collapses, and he finds himself in the grove by The River, Amber still in his arms. Then, she opens her eyes. Relationships With Amber The two have had a closely connected past. Upon meeting at age 12, Thom was drawn to her. The two formed an amazingly close friendship that always felt like it wanted to become more. Thom says that he loved her at the time, though it does not match his current definition of love. In his memoir, Thom wrote: : "Amber was someone that I was very much crazy about in my time knowing her. You could say that she was the first person I ever loved, as much as child that age could. She was an amazingly lively person – face was always vibrant with life, and even the way she spoke suggested that she was fueled by the world itself. Brown eyes, brown hair, tan skin, athletic. She was one of those people who could always make you happy, especially if she knew you." With Kim Kim is Thom's best friend since the age of 12. The two share a wide variety of interests, the most notable of which is swordplay. The two would often choreograph duels with PVC "swords," as well as practice their real skills by sparring. Thom values Kim for his ability to listen and give advice regarding Amber (and other situations), and also for his humor in tight spots. With Sara Thom and Sara have actually had the longest relationship: they've known each other for ten years. Thom cares deeply for their friendship, but, having been smitten with Amber in recent years, has started to ignore her a small deal. The times he does talk to her, he is reminded of how flat-out good of a person she is, but those times are few and far between nowadays. With Varios Despite their literal relationship, Thom disdains Varios. He only remembers him as the man who taunted them in the Stasis World, and he hasn't done much to redeem himself of that. Upon finally meeting him in the real world, Thom acts cold to him, and the feeling is reciprocated. He opens up to him more towards the end of their journey, especially after discovering their relationshp. Thom decides that regardless of who Varios is, that doesn't change the way he acts. With Carmen Thom has remnant memories of his relationship with Carmen in the Stasis World, and thus he has a certain fondness for her in the real world. Knowing this to be the case, she remains distant from him, which only causes him to be more curious. She is the cause of some minor internal conflict in Thom regarding where his loyalties lie, but he chooses to ignore that dilemma as more direct problems arise. With Kelcy Kelcy serves her purpose with Thom: she makes him feel at ease. Kelcy has been pumped with a synthetic substance designed to make Chaos cells lie dormant within a certain proximity. As one would naturally imagine, this causes Thom to regain his full sense of self when around her. Carmen employs Kelcy to help steer Thom in the right direction, and Thom and Kelcy's friendship takes a hit when he learns of this. ''Mnemosyne'' Much later in life (while in his 30s), Thom decided to recall the events of his life, starting from the summer of his awakening. Calling it Mnemosyne, he dedicated the autobiography to three people: : "For Kim, Sara, and Amber. Wherever you may be, I'll be there too. Never forget it." Category:Characters Category:The Four